Plitvice Lakes National Park

Have you ever seen photos of places in which the colors are so vibrant and incredible that it looks like photoshop? Well, Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia is one of the few places that has those colors without needing the fake effects of photoshop! It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and well worth the title. Plitvice Lakes is just under a 2 hour drive if you’re going there from Zagreb, which is what I did.

If you’re planning a day trip to Plitvice, you have a couple options on how to get there and get around. If you aren’t interested in being a part of a tour group, you can easily either drive yourself to the site, or even take a bus as there are many that go to Plitvice Lakes throughout each day. If you are spending the day not on a tour, then you’ll have to pay an entrance fee.

These following prices are for adults:
During the months of November, December, January, February, and March, the price is 55,00 HRK which is the equivalent to about $8USD or 7€.
During the months of April, May, June, September, and October, the price is 110,00 HRK which is the equivalent to about $16USD or 14€.
During the months of July and August (peak season), the price is 180,00 HRK which is the equivalent to about $16USD or 24€.

Children and teenagers DO get lower prices as well as students, so if you’re a student, BRING YOUR SCHOOL ID!

Your other option for seeing this stunning UNESCO site is to take a tour, which was what my friend and I chose to do. Luckily, many hostels (and hotels) can help set you up with a tour group, which made the whole thing very easy for us. Our tour guide picked us up from our hostel, took us onto the bus, and the whole group set off towards Plitvice.

If I remember correctly, the price was about $100USD and included the entrance fee, the entire transportation fee, and the fee for the tour guide who shows you around to all the best places in Plitvice.

Once at Plitvice, you spend your entire day walking around this amazingly gigantic blue and green playground. The flora and fauna were so vibrant, as were the colors of the lakes and waterfalls. In my entire life I’ve never seen waters as crystal clear as the ones at Plitvice. As you’ll see, the pictures speak for themselves! We spent about 5 hours walking through the upper lakes, and lower lakes, exploring the site and enjoying some really wonderful scenery.

Unlike the similar but smaller Krka National Park (also located in Croatia, about 45 minutes drive from Zagreb), you aren’t allowed to swim in the lakes at Plitvice. While at Krka, visitors are able to cool off by wading into the lakes and splashing around, Plitvice has a rule to not go into the lakes.

Luckily, our tour guide was a cool guy, who decided to help us break some rules. We told him we really wanted to go into the water, and during the lunch break he discreetly gave us directions on how to get to a hidden portion of the lake where we could dip ourselves into the water without being seen. We found our way, but the water was absolutely freezing so we didn’t go much farther than our knees.

Overall, we had a really pleasant day, got some great photos and memories, and saw some really gorgeous nature! I highly suggest stopping at Plitvice Lakes, or even Krka Lakes, next time you take a trip into Croatia!